This invention relates to a connector for use with an electronic card called a PC (Portable Computer) card or an Express card and, in particular, to a connector with electrostatic protection.
An electronic card of the type is disclosed, for example, in Japanese Patent (JP-B) No. 3252257 and comprises a connector to be connected to an electronic apparatus. The connector includes a ground connection terminal as protection against electrostatic charges accumulating on the electronic card. The ground connection terminal has a contacting portion electrically connected to upper and lower covers of the electronic card and a printed board. Therefore, electrostatic charges accumulated on the electronic card are released through the ground connection terminal to a ground of the printed board.
In the above-mentioned connector, the ground connection terminal is formed by press-bending. Therefore, it is impossible to achieve a sufficiently high contacting force of the contacting portion. Further, the ground connection terminal is provided with a bent portion and a spring portion in the vicinity of the contacting portion but no guide is formed around the bent portion and the spring portion. Therefore, due to variations in an assembling process of the connector or upon reception of mechanical shock, the ground connection terminal may be deformed in a direction other than a contacting direction of the contacting portion, i.e., other than a thickness direction of the card. Further, the contacting portion is formed on a flat surface of the bent portion. Therefore, if an oxide film or the like is formed on a surface of each cover, the contacting portion is contacted with the cover via the oxide film. This results in contact failure.
Because of the above-mentioned problems, the connector according to the conventional technique is insufficient in contact reliability and stability of ground connection. Further, if a mounting height of the connector with respect to the printed board is changed, i.e., if a position of the connector in a thickness direction of the card is changed, it is necessary to change a press-bending process and a punching process for a SMT soldering portion of a ground member. This requires much time and labor and high cost for reconstruction.